Apparatus for cleaning vacuum cleaner bags



June 28, 1932. A. w. suTHr-:RLAND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING VACUUM CLEANER BAGS Filed Oct. 25, 1930 INvlN-l-nq z ACH-ys- Paten-ted June 28, 1932 PATENT OFFICE ALFRED W. SUTHERLAND, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS APPARATUS FOR CLEANING VACUUM CLEANER BAGS Application led October 25, 1930. Serial No. 491,199.

The invention relates to a new and useful improvement in method of and apparatus for cleaning vacuum cleaner bags. Vacuum cleaners as commonly constructed for house- 5 hold use are provided with a bag into which the dust and dirt are drawn or sucked during the operation. The bag usually employed is madeof loose woven fabric or other material, that is not air ti ht as it is essential to the operation of the evice that the fabric of the bag be su'liciently porousto allow air to pass through the interstices, but it should be sufficiently close woven to retain the dust and dirt Within the bag. The minute particles that are drawn into the bag tend to adhere to the inner face of the bagl and to the walls of the interstices and thus clog the interstices or pores in the bag. This materially retards the suction and impairs the efficiency of the apparatus. For this reason many vacuum cleaners have been condemned as being imperfect when the trouble is not with the apparatus itself, but is due to neglect to clean the ba The ordinary methods of cleaning hereto ore employed have been tobrush or beat the bag. 'Dhis is not only a dirty and disagreeable task but it does not thoroughly clean the bag.

The object of the present invention 1s to tus for cleaning the bag. The bag should first be removed from the vacuum cleaner before a plying the bag to the cleaning apparatus. s the dust and dirt are substantially all on the inner face of the bag and in the interstices the bag should be turned inside out preparatory to cleaning.

The invention will be clearly understood from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of apparatus embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2 2, Fig.

Fig. 3 is a left-hand end view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view showprovide a convenient method of and apparaing the bag clamped in the box compartment of the apparatus preparatory to turning the bag inside out and showing the tool for turning the bag inserted in and connected with the bag.

Fig. 5 is a view on the same line as Fig. 4 showing the bag in the process of being turned inside out.

Referring to the drawing there is shown at 10 a boX like container or compartment within which the bag is to be inserted and held during the cleaning operation. This compartment may be of any suitable form or material with walled side and ends. It has a top cover 11 preferably hinged as shown by hinges 12 and may be opened to permit insertion and removal of the bag 13.

At one end 18 there is an inlet opening 14 through which air may be blown into the bag. The neck 15 of the bag extends to or through the said inlet opening 14. and clamps are provided for clamping the rim 17 of the mouth of the bag against the outside face of that portion of the end wall'18 which surrounds the opening 14. As shown in the drawing, buttons 16 are provided for the purpose of clamping the rim of the bag to the end wall of the compartment. These buttons are each shown as pivoted on a stud 9 so that lease the button from clamping position when desired to remove the bag and may be turned into clampingv position to clamp the bag.

The opposite end of the bag which consti- ,the button may be turned on the pivot to reso tutes the bottom of the bag is usually left s,

unsewn but held closed by suitable means when the bag is in use, but which may be unclamped to permit the bottom to be opened for the purpose of dropping the dirt out through the bottom when it is desired to 99 empty the bag. Any suitable means may be provided for clamping the opposite side edges of the open bottom to form a closure for the same when the bag is in use. In the drawing pinch clamps 19 are provided which may be g5 somewhat similar to spring actuated clothes pins. Means are provided for connecting these clamps with the end wall of the compartment so as to hold the bag in suspension when in use. The means shown consist of a coil spring 21 one end. of which is hooked into a ring 22 fastened at one end of the end 23 of the compartment, the other end of said spring being connected with a ring 24 and said ring 24 is connected with the clamps 19 by wires 25 or other suitable means. The spring 21 should referably be of such length that it will be un er tension when it is hooked up thereby holding the bag suspended in horizontal position in the compartment.

The inlet opening 14 is surrounded by a curb 26 within which is a rotary fan or blower 27 for blowing air throu h said inlet opening intoV the interior of the ag. The blower is mountedA on a shaft 28 which may be rotated by any suitable means, not shown.

The opposite end 23 of the compartment 1s formed with an outer opening 29 through which the dirt is discharged. Preferably a suction fan 30 is provided for sucking the dirt out .of the compartment. This fan is mounted on a rotary shaft 31 which may be driven by any suitable means, not shown.

Preferablythe suction fan is driven faster than the blower fan 27. The speed of both fans can be regulated -by any well-known means.

The box end 18 is preferably formed with air inlet ports 32 in that portion 'of the end which is outside of the curb 26. These ports will admit outside air into that portion of the com artment surrounding the bag independent g1 of the air which is forced into the a by t e blower.

eans are provided for conveniently turning the bag inside out after it is introduced into the container preparatory to its being clamped in operative position above described. In order to permit the introduction of the bag into the compartment the box cover will be opened and the bag inserted. The bottom closing clamps should be released in the bag and the rim around this bottom opening turned outward in ange fashion and secured by clamps 33 to ledges 7 which project inward from the walls of the container. These clamps may be turn-buttons similar to the buttons 16 previously'described. At this time the mouth of the bag is toward the outlet opening 29 of the chamber. A suitable tool is employed for engaging the mouth of the bag to turn it inside out. The tool shown for this purpose comprises a shaft 34 which has secured at one end a disk 35 which is of somewhat greater diameter than the riml7 of the mouth of the bag. The disk 35 may be separable from the shaft 34 which is provided with a screw thread and the disk may be screwed thereon when it is desired to secure them together. In order to bring the tool into operative connection with the bag the shaft may be inserted into the blower passage 14 and projected through the open ottom of the bag and thence through the neck of the bag and the disk ma then be screwed onto the end of the shaft y the operator at the outlet or suction opening 29; or the disk 35 may be previously secured to the shaft 34 or even be permanently secured thereto and the handle end of the shaft inserted into the compartment through the outlet passage 29 thereof and thence projected into the bag until the disk 35 engages the rim of the mouth of the bag. Then the operator will grasp the handle end as shown 1n Fig. 4 and pull the shaft toward the left as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5 and draw it out toward the left far enou h to turn the bag completel inside out and draw the neck to or throu h the inlet opening 14 and then clamp it 1n place by the buttons 16 en aging the rim 17. The shaft 34 with the dis 35 may then be pushed out throu h the outlet end 29 of the compartment. T e clamps or clips 19 may then be connected with the bottom end ofthe bag and the outer end of the sprin 21 may be hooked to the eye or ring 22. fter the parts are all connected the box cover should e closed and the blower and suction fans set .in o eration. The air forced in b the blower ans will pass out through the interstices of the bag and blow the dust and dirt which have collected in the interstices and on the then outside surface of the bag which is the natural inner face of the bag, out into the chamber of the container and the suction fan will draw the dirt out through the outlet opening 29.

The inlet ports 32 in the head end will afford an additional supply of air to compensate for that-which is sucked out. It it desirable to have means for regulating the size of the inlet ports so as to control the amount of air introduced through said ports. For that purpose valves 36 are rovided in connection with said ports v.' ereby the said ports may -be entirely closed or partially closed as desired. v

The blowing of air into the ba bag, thus opening the pores and remove the dirt. Y

By controlling and varying the amount of air introduced into the compartment the ba will receive a shaking movement which wiFl tend to loosen the fibrous pieces which would otherwise be hard to dislodge.

The blower 27 and the suction fan` 30 may each be controlled to run faster or slower or even to alternately stop and start so as to intermittently force air into the bag 13 and through its interstices into the box 10 and to suck air and dirt out of the box and collapse infiates the helping to the bag. If the exhaust fan is taking the air out of the box faster than the blower fan blows it into the bag, the bag will be deated, and when the suction fan 30 stops and the blower fan is operated the bag will be inflated. This will cause a repeated inflation and deation of the bag and give it a. sort of shaking movement which will tend to loosen the fibrous pieces on that surface of the bag which is normally the inside when the machine is in use to clean the floor or rug but which becomes the outside of the ba when the bag is turned inside out for cleanmg the bag as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cleaning orous dust bags and the like, comprising a c amber having opposed inlet and outlet passa-ges, means for engaging the bag at its opposite ends and holding it suspended under tension within said chamber and with its mouth in proximity to said inlet passage, means for forcing a current of air through said inlet passage into the interior of the bag and out throu h the pores of the bag into said chamber, t e wall of said chamber at the inlet end being formed with additional air inlets to admit air directly into the chamber without first entering the bag, and means for forcing the dust laden air out of the chamber through said outlet passage.

2. Apparatus for cleaning orous dust bags and the like, comprising a c amber having opposed inlet and outlet passages, means for engaging the bag at its opposite ends and holding it suspended within said chamber and with its mouth in proximity to said inlet passage, means for forcing a current of air through said inlet passage into the interior of the bag and out through the ores of the bag into said chamber, the wall o said cham ber being formed with additional inlets to admit air into the chamber without first enterin the bag, and means for forcing the dust la en air through said outlet passage from' the chamber.

In testimony whereof I aflix m signature.

ALFRED W. SUTHE LAND. 

